TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Montebello, California. Tascam is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first cassette-based multi-track home studio recorders. Tascam also introduced the first low-cost mass-produced multitrack recorders with Simul-Sync designed for recording musicians. Tascam also manufactured reel-to-reel tape machines and audio mixers for home recordists from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s.
Tascam started out as a research and development group to research how to use TEAC's recording technology in musician and recording studio products. The group was called TASC (TEAC Audio Systems Corp). The founders included Mr. K. Tani, one of the founders of TEAC-Japan and Dr. Abe, a senior TEAC-Japan engineer. In 1971 TASCAM (TASC AMerica Corp.) was founded to distribute TASC products in the U.S. It also conducted additional market research in the US for the Japanese parent company. The company's first headquarters was at 5440 McConnell Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90066. In 1974 it moved its headquarters to 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, California.
Tascam's first products were TEAC brand multitrack recorders. In 1972 it introduced the first low-cost mass-produced multitrack recorders with Simul-Sync:
The A3340 4-track recorder with 10.5" tape reels, 7½ and 15 ips speeds w/ manual direction toggle leverThe A2340 4-track recorder with 7" tape reels, 3¾ and 7½ ips speeds w/ manual direction toggle leverThe A3340S 4-track recorder with 10.5" tape reels, 7½ and 15 ips speeds, the 's' designation indicating improved w/ solenoid controlThe A2340S 4-track recorder with 7" tape reels, 3¾ and 7½ ips speeds, the 's' designation indicating improved w/ solenoid controlIn 1973 they introduced the first Tascam branded products:
M-10 modular 12x4x2 mixerSeries 70H-X MTRSeries 70H-8 MTROn March 4, 1973 TEAC merged the Tascam Corporation into TEAC Corporation of America (TCA). TEAC-Japan retains the exclusive worldwide rights to the TASCAM brand name for their professional audio related products.
In 2013 Gibson Brands Inc. bought a majority stake in TEAC Corporation, the parent company of TASCAM.
Portastudio and pocketstudio
144 - 1979, World's first 4 track recorder based on a standard cassette tape, 1982 Bruce Springsteen records Nebraska Album 2006 Mix magazine TECnology hall of famePorta One Ministudio - 1984, First Battery operated portable studio.388 Studio - 1985 World's first 8 track 1/4" multitrack and mixer combination.564 - 1997 First MiniDisc based digital Portastudio.788 - 2000 World's first 24 bit 8 track hard disk Portastudio2488 24 Track Hard Drive based digital portastudio - 2004 Music Trades Magazine Product of the Year, MIPA Desktop Recording Workstation of the YearDP-02 8 track digital recorder - 2008 Music & Sound Retailer Best New Multitrack recorder TASCAM 80-8 1/2" 8 channel analog reel deck, TASCAM offered an external optional 8 channel dedicated DBX interface module. 1975DA-50 Pro DAT - 1989, First US-legal DAT tape recorder with SCMS Copy protection.MSR-24 24 Track 1" Open Reel Tape Deck - 1990 TEC Award NomineeDA-800/24 DASH 1990, 24 channel digital tape Recorder.DA-88 DTRS (tm) 8 Channel Digital Audio Recorder - 1994 TEC Award Winner, 1995 Emmy Award Winner, 1995 NAB Professional's Choice Award winner.DA-30mkII DAT - 1995 TEC Award WinnerDA-38 DTRS - 1997 TEC Award WinnerDA-98 DTRS - 1997 PAR Excellence Award, 1998 NAB Professional's Choice Award, 1998 TEC Award WinnerDA-302 DAT - 1997 World's first Dual DAT deck. 1997 PAR Excellence Award Winner.DA-98HR 24 bit DTRS - 1998 Post Magazine Best Multitrack Digital Recorder.DA-45HR 24 bit DAT - World's First 24 bit DAT Recorder. 1998 PAR Excellence Award Winner, 1998 Keyboard Magazine Key Buy.DA-78HR 24 bit DTRS - 1999 Pro Audio Review PAR Excellence Award, 2000 TEC award WinnerMMR-8 / MMR-16 8 channel Hard Disk Recorder - 2000 Emmy Award Winner, 2001 Oscar Scientific Award Winner.MX-2424 24 channel 96 kHz Hard Disk Recorder - 1999 PAR Excellence Award Winner, 2001 TEC Award winner.DS-D98 2 Channel DSD Recorder Based on DA-98HR - 2002 TEC Award Nominee.HD-P2 Portable Timecode enabled CF card 2 channel recorder - 2006 PAR Award Winner.DV-RA1000HD DVD and Hard Drive based 2 Channel Master DSD Recorder - 2007 TEC Award Winner.X-48 48 channel 96 kHz Hard Disk Recorder. - 2008 TEC Award NomineeDR-100 2 Channel Hand Held Recorder - 2009 TEC Award NomineeHS-P82 8 Channel Dual CF Media Field Recorder - 2009 PAR Excellence Award, 2010 Good Design AwardDR-03 Portable Handheld Recorder - 2010 Music & Sound Retailers Best Multitrack AwardDR-680 8 channel portable SD card recorder - 2011 TEC Award NomineeDR-40 Handheld 4-track recorder - 2012 EM Magazine Editors Choice AwardsDR-60D 4 track recorder for DSLR Cameras - 2013 NAB Best of Show AwardM-5 Analog Mixer - The Model 5 was released in 1975 in conjunction w/ the 80-8 eight channel 1/2 inch reel tape deck. It came as an 8x4x2 board, expandable to 12 channels w/ optional talkback moduleM-700 Analog Mixer - 1989 dubbed "the Baby SSL"M-3700 Analog Mixer - 1992 TEC Award NomineeM-2600 Analog Mixer - 1995 TEC Award NomineeM-1600 Analog Mixer - 1997 TEC Award NomineeTM-D8000 Digital Audio Mixer - 1996 Blue Ribbon Best of AES Convention, 1998 TEC Award NomineeTM-D4000 Digital Audio Mixer - 2000 TEC Award NomineeDM-24 Digital Audio Mixer - 2002 TEC Award winner DM-4800 64 channel Digital Audio Mixer - 2007 TEC Award NomineeComputer Audio Interfaces and Controllers
US-428 - 2001 TEC Award NomineeFW-1884 - FireWire Audio and Control Surface - 2003 PAR Excellence AwardUS-122 - 2004 Soundcheck magazine Best Audio/MIDI HardwareUS-2400 - 24 Fader USB Controller - 2004 Mix Magazine NAMM Show Certified HitUS-322 / US-366 - 2013 Visual Grand Prix Gold Award.US-144MKIIGigastudio 3 Sampler - 2004 Mix Magazine Certified Hit, 2005 TEC Award Winner, 2006 EM Editors's choice Award, 2006 MIPA Award.CD-GT1 CD Based Trainer with time stretch and pitch change.TA-1VP - Channel Strip with Antares AutoTune - 2011 TEC Award Nominee
